Chapter 29 Li Xiao patted the bed beneath him and said very generously, "I'll share half with you."
That day, until it was completely dark, Young Master Lan did not return.
I only heard that Lan's younger sister's grave is located on a green hill in the western suburbs, but I don't know exactly how far it is from the city.
I asked Li Xiao, who had just woken up from a nap, if this was unusual.
“In the past, if we occasionally encountered bad weather, rain or snow that blocked the road, or if we were delayed by something in the middle of the journey, we would stay in a nearby village for a few days.”
Li Xiao explained that his voice was muffled and deep, probably because he had just woken up, and there was still a red mark on his cheek from when he had been sleeping.
His tone was calm, but there was a hint of worry in his gaze as he looked out the window: "The snow seems to be falling heavier and heavier."
The snow outside was indeed getting heavier and heavier, with snowflakes flying and falling through the air as if they were free.
The wind howled, like an unseen beast clenching against the window, shaking it violently and howling mournfully.
Li Xiao merely opened the window a crack.
A fierce gust of cold wind howled and rushed into the room. I felt the temperature inside drop drastically, and I hugged my arms and shivered involuntarily, getting goosebumps all over my body.
Meanwhile, Li Xiao swiftly slammed the window shut, followed by a click as he firmly locked the latch from the inside.
With his series of actions, the swirling wind and snow were instantly shut out, and the indoor temperature slowly began to rise, gradually restoring its previous warmth.
After seeing the situation outside, neither of the two people present felt relaxed.
I watched as Li Xiao silently sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to brush the snowflakes clinging to his hair.
However, the scattered snowflakes had already melted damply in the room and settled in the boy's hair.
Seeing his futile movements, and thinking that he was a guy who had just woken up after taking medicine, it was definitely not good for him to have wet hair like that, I got out of bed to get him a towel.
To my surprise, just as I reached the edge of the bed, Li Xiao, who had been facing away from me, suddenly called out to me as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
"where did you go?"
I was a little startled, and after a moment of stunned silence, I replied that I was going to get him a towel.
"Where did you put it?" Li Xiao asked upon hearing this.
"Just... go out, turn left, and look at the outermost cabinet against the wall. Open the first shelf."
I answered slowly, still not understanding why Li Xiao asked the question. Then I saw the young man get up and walk out, turning left and disappearing behind the beaded curtain.
Then came the sound of cabinet doors being pulled open one by one.
I was wondering what Li Xiao was doing.
Then Li Xiao walked in with a towel, a slightly resentful expression on his face.
"Didn't you say it was in the first compartment?" he said, casually tossing the towel toward me.
I reached out and gently caught it, looking at Li Xiao with some confusion, not understanding what he was talking about.
The latter first sat down in front of me without any politeness. The boy's wet hair brushed against the back of my hand, cool and refreshing. I just pulled my hand away when I heard him say, "That's clearly the last one."
After thinking about it for a while, I quickly realized where the problem lay.
I did not specify whether the sorting was from bottom to top or from top to bottom.
Generally speaking, people tend to start counting from their own perspective, taking the side closest to them as the starting point.
In this respect, Li Xiao and I actually made no difference in our choices—the difference lies in the fact that the significant height difference between us led to an objective difference in the subjective standard of being close to oneself.
I thought about it and decided there was no need for further explanation. It was a trivial matter with the same outcome, and saying anything more might only humiliate me.
So he casually said that he probably remembered it wrong.
Then, Li Xiao gave a soft hum, as if to say, "See? I knew it."
I reached out from behind and gently untied Li Xiao's hair, then carefully wrapped each strand in a towel and gently dried it.
The boy's hair was long and thick, with a soft quality that he himself did not possess.
The shape was the same as what I had found before, with slight curls at the edges. Combined with its light color, it didn't resemble common human hair, but rather reminded me of some animal with beautiful curly fur.
As I was wiping, I suddenly realized something was wrong.
The hair color is actually a gradient; to be precise, the color becomes lighter towards the roots, as if it has faded.
I became suspicious and thought back to the boy from even earlier times.
I always felt that his hair color back then seemed to be a bit darker than it is now.
The reason it wasn't very obvious was not only because the color change wasn't that significant, but also because Li Xiao's complexion had become increasingly pale since winter began.
Li Xiao noticed that I had stopped moving my hands and asked me in confusion what was wrong.
I paused for a moment before hesitatingly asking, "Young Master Li...did you dye your hair before?"
"ha?"
Li Xiao clearly didn't expect me to ask such a strange question. She frowned, subconsciously turned her head to look at me, and completely failed to notice that she had a lock of hair in my hand.
...And then, a few strands of his hair remained in my hand.
Li Xiao covered his scalp, which was being pulled painfully, and hissed as he gasped for breath.
I looked at him with some sympathy, then silently rubbed my fingertips together, quietly discarded the rest of my hair, and then silently handed over the only remaining strand in my hand under the accusing gaze of the young man.
“Young Master Li, look, you’ve only lost one hair. Don’t worry, your scalp is perfectly fine, you’re not going to go bald.”
"..."
"And Pipa believes that even this single hair will grow back very soon."
I ingratiatingly brought that strand of hair closer to Li Xiao, my eyes full of sincerity.
Li Xiao glanced at the hair, quickly looked away, and then looked at me with an expression as if I were an idiot, saying, "Who asked you that?"
I exclaimed, "Huh?" I had genuinely thought that Li Xiao was trying to settle scores with me because I had accidentally pulled a few strands of his hair.
However, judging from the current situation, it seems that this is not the case.
I breathed a slight sigh of relief, while also realizing that my little action just now seemed a bit unnecessary.
Since that's the case, I silently withdrew the hand I had extended and put it in my pocket.
Li Xiao's gaze followed my movement, her eyes flickered, and she finally remembered what had happened before her hair was pulled.
Why did you ask me such a stupid question about whether I dyed my hair?
I don't know what's so stupid about this question.
Perhaps... it's simply because I'm the one who asked this question?
I thought for a moment and then carefully replied, "Because I just noticed that your hair seems to have lost some color, Mr. Li—it doesn't look as black as before."
Although it wasn't that dark to begin with.
I silently added a sentence in my mind.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiao appeared surprised, but his voice lacked any real emotion, and this superficial surprise gave off a very perfunctory feeling.
"Oh, you actually noticed that." Li Xiao said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's normal for it to turn a little whiter in winter and then return to its original color when it gets warm in spring."
What's... normal about this?
I was completely confused, but the boy seemed to not understand.
"But I've been like this since I was born."
Li Xiao spoke calmly, picking up a lock of hair and looking at it in front of his eyes: "I've consulted every doctor I could, but none of them could give me a diagnosis. Besides... if I really had some serious illness, how could I have survived until now?"
He looked at me and suddenly gave a very faint smile, almost as if he were mocking himself.
The preceding statement is perfectly understandable.
Then the last sentence is somewhat puzzling.
What does it mean?
If I had a serious illness, how could I have survived until now?
What could possibly be wrong with Li Xiao? Isn't he just a pampered young master?
Now it seems like... there's something you can't say about it.
Seeing Li Xiao's sudden dejection, I felt somewhat at a loss. I couldn't help but think, "If only... Young Master Lan were here right now."
If he were here, everything would be different.
I won't face the awkward situation of being alone in a room with Li Xiao, nor will I be unable to help but overthink the meaning behind his words.
Perhaps, they were just saying it casually?
It was still quiet, but this time it had an added unsettling power compared to before.
To break the ice, I had to take the initiative and say, "Oh, that's actually quite normal."
Upon hearing this, Li Xiao lowered his head and looked up at me, as if waiting for me to continue.
I hesitated for a moment, racking my brains for every possible excuse, before bracing myself to answer: "Premature graying is rare, but not unheard of. I've seen children like that on my way here by boat."
I gestured towards the air: "It's only so small, but your head is already completely white. But there are still some differences. If I had to say, the color of your hair, Young Master Li, is more beautiful. It's very even and pretty."
When Li Xiao heard my simple and unpretentious praise, he gave a very slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
I heard him mutter to himself, "When did he learn to flatter so well? He can't even learn something good."
Despite saying that, his tone didn't sound malicious.
Encouraged, I spontaneously added, "Actually, many wild animals, such as cats, dogs, and rabbits, shed their fur in winter. Perhaps the reason your hair color has lightened is the same."
"..."
Li Xiao was silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out and flicked my forehead. It didn't hurt as much as the one that happened this morning.
However, I immediately covered my forehead and instinctively stepped back.
Seeing this, Li Xiao squinted and smiled: "You're really a coward."
Then, slightly toned it down, he said, "Alright, go to sleep. Kids should be asleep by now. If they sleep late, they won't grow tall, and don't cry in front of me later."
The way Li Xiao said that made it sound like he wasn't a child himself.
Besides, even if I never grow taller in my entire life, I still won't be able to cry in front of him.
But since Young Master Li has said so, I may get up and take my leave to go back to my room.
"Well then, good night, Young Master Li. If there are no further instructions, I will take my leave now."
I felt relieved, and my tone became lighter as well.
Just as I reached the edge of the bed and was about to slide down, my collar was suddenly grabbed from behind.
I didn't use much force, but it caught me off guard. I lost my balance and almost fell off the bed.
Fortunately, in the end, he was just face down, buried in the thick mattress with a thud.
"So eager? Did I say you could leave?" Li Xiao's voice rang out directly above him.
—It was indeed due to carelessness.
I awkwardly looked up, propped myself up on my arms, and slowly sat up from the soft bedding. Then, rubbing my sore nose, I explained sheepishly.
“Young Master Li has misunderstood. Pipa was not leaving just now, but making preparations before leaving to ensure that you can sleep peacefully here.”
"Oh, that sounds like a lot of trouble. Why don't you just stay here?" Li Xiao said casually.
Realizing what Li Xiao had said, the word "good" that was about to come out caught in my throat, then took a turn and became a dry "ah".
"Haha, is Young Master Li joking with Pipa?" I laughed, though somewhat reluctantly.
“How could that be?” Li Xiao laughed, his laughter perfectly natural.
We looked at each other, but the smile finally disappeared from my face first.
“But—” I tried to make a final struggle, “there’s no small place here to sleep.”
Li Xiao patted the bed beneath him and said very generously, "I'll share half with you."
"This...isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
"What's good or bad about it?" Li Xiao raised an eyebrow. "Have you been lying on thin air talking to me since this afternoon?"
When he said that, I was speechless.
"Alright, stop thinking about it. Thinking too much will stunt your growth." Li Xiao gently patted my shoulder.
"It's just to look after him temporarily. In his current state, I really don't feel comfortable leaving you alone. What if he really falls and becomes a cripple? If your young master comes to me for an explanation, I can't afford to take that responsibility."
It was quite a surprise to hear Li Xiao say something so humane.
Li Xiao, however, thought that I had misunderstood what I said.
So he added, "Don't worry, as soon as your young master returns, I will return it to its rightful owner without the slightest hesitation."
He spoke with such seriousness that I opened my mouth, but what finally came out was a very soft "thank you"... even though I didn't know what I wanted to thank him for.
I don't know if Li Xiao heard me or not. But since he didn't answer, I'll pretend I didn't say anything.
The wind was strong that night, lashing against the windowpanes and making people restless.
I thought that since Li Xiao had taken a nap in the afternoon, he would probably have a hard time falling asleep tonight.
But as it turned out, I was completely wrong. Almost immediately, he was leaning against the pillow, breathing evenly.
I suspect it's the effect of the medicine I took before bed. But it was just medicine for treating a cold, so it might have some sedative effect, but generally speaking, it shouldn't be enough to make me sleep so well even if I sleep day and night.
Therefore, either the drug is incredibly effective, or Li Xiao is genuinely sleep-deprived.
When Mr. Ajiu brought the medicine, he seemed somewhat surprised to learn that I was also staying here that night.
However, this surprise was quickly replaced by a familiar, relieved smile.
Then I saw him pinch his chin, which was covered with a thick beard, and mutter to himself, "Sure enough, the young master has really grown up. He even knows to share a bed with his friends now."
Actually, there wasn't anything particularly wrong with what he said. If we go back seventy, eighty, or ninety years, it might seem more relevant.
The final result was that on this night, with the wind howling outside and the sound of snoring filling the room, I successfully lost sleep.
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